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K. Chapter 28: Let Freedom Ring

Page 1

[CHAPTER 28]
[Page 1]
LET FREEDOM RING
The Mechanics‟ Hall Riot, coming closely upon the heels of the Memphis Riot of April, 1866, became the red flag around which the Radicals began to gather. Leading members of this group in Congress began impeachment proceedings against the President. Failing in this, and flushed by their election triumphs at the polls during the autumn of 1866, they next made determined plans for the reconstruction of the South. The unanimous rejection of the Fourteenth Amendment by the legislature in early February of 1867 only heightened this determination.
The congressional plan of reconstruction did not differ materially from many of the suggestions offered by witnesses questioned by the Select Committee, although they were in reality based upon resolutions that Charles Sumner had offered in the United States Senate on December 5, 1866.1 Negroes and loyal men of Louisiana were being murdered “in cold blood;” the Fourteenth Amendment had been rejected. The Radicals now had all of the evidence they wished to offer in defense of actions which were regarded by many as a usurpation of States‟ rights. Thaddeus Stevens, one of the most implacable of Johnson‟s enemies, declared that “Though the President is Commander-in-chief, Congress is his commander; and God willing, he shall obey. He and his minions shall learn that this is not a Government of king and satraps, but a Government of the people, and that Congress is the people.” On February 6, Stevens presented the Reconstruction Bill to Congress. In his introduction of the bill, he told

The unpublished manuscript "The Negro in Louisiana" is a work begun by the Dillard (University) Project in 1942, an arm of the WPA's Federal Writer's Project. After the dissolution of the unit, Marcus Christian maintained and edited the document in hopes of eventual publication. It is reproduced here as an annotated transcript, with original typos, chapters, and paginations preserved.

[CHAPTER 28]
[Page 1]
LET FREEDOM RING
The Mechanics‟ Hall Riot, coming closely upon the heels of the Memphis Riot of April, 1866, became the red flag around which the Radicals began to gather. Leading members of this group in Congress began impeachment proceedings against the President. Failing in this, and flushed by their election triumphs at the polls during the autumn of 1866, they next made determined plans for the reconstruction of the South. The unanimous rejection of the Fourteenth Amendment by the legislature in early February of 1867 only heightened this determination.
The congressional plan of reconstruction did not differ materially from many of the suggestions offered by witnesses questioned by the Select Committee, although they were in reality based upon resolutions that Charles Sumner had offered in the United States Senate on December 5, 1866.1 Negroes and loyal men of Louisiana were being murdered “in cold blood;” the Fourteenth Amendment had been rejected. The Radicals now had all of the evidence they wished to offer in defense of actions which were regarded by many as a usurpation of States‟ rights. Thaddeus Stevens, one of the most implacable of Johnson‟s enemies, declared that “Though the President is Commander-in-chief, Congress is his commander; and God willing, he shall obey. He and his minions shall learn that this is not a Government of king and satraps, but a Government of the people, and that Congress is the people.” On February 6, Stevens presented the Reconstruction Bill to Congress. In his introduction of the bill, he told